Tie the Ribbon Round
by waterfaerie15
Summary: The second war is over and Hermionie finds herself a prisoner in the Malfoy household. Escape seems impossible due to a simple scarlet ribbon.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, don't sue me.

Tie the Ribbon Round

When the ribbon was first put on my neck I was too weak to lift my arm let alone to fight them off. But I do remember feeling so restricted, so trapped, by this simple piece of scarlet silk. But of course it wasn't simple was it? An array of spellswere put on it to make sure I would be obedient, and could not escape, not silk anymore but cold steel, like the bars of a cell. All to keep me trapped within the ribbon. It was really a symbol, of my station in life, of my servitude. Anyone could look at it and see who I was, a mudblood, the worst kind of slave. People would either sneer and hit me, or they would walk quickly away without looking back, not wanting to be seen with me. Just because of the ribbon.

I didn't go to one of the camps. I guess I was lucky in that way, but I did go someplace just as bad; Malfoy Manner. What I found out later was that he had told them if I should be found, to bring me right to him. It was Crabbe and Goyle, the ever faithful servants, that brought me to him, I couldn't fight I was still wounded from the war. The war, it hurts me even now to think about it.

Flashback

When the Voldemort finally attacked Hogwarts we were ready. Finally it would all come to a head, all the fighting in and out of Hogwarts would all come out tonight. Harry, Ron, and I walked out the door together following McGonagall as she led us all out onto the grassy slopes. We walked with the other students and aurors out to meet the Death Eaters. We could see them walking to meet us like an epic battle. But most of the actual battle is still a blur to me. I only remember trying to stay alive, curse after curse. Until I came face to face with Blaise Zabini.

"Mudblood." He sneered at me.

"Bastard." I yelled right back, not showing my hurt at the name. I knew this boy, we had gone to school together, taken classes together, and here we were, about to fight to what would probably be the death. I all became real now, the division of the people,the entire war, became so painfully real at that moment. I don't know how long we dueled but I was getting tired when I felt a spell hit my back and I blanked out.

When I awoke I remember feeling cold and realized I was in some kind of dungeon with a bunch of other people. I hurt everywhere, like I had been kicked repeatedly, my arm felt broken, and my wand was gone. Everyone there looked tired and many people were hurt. Some, the lucky, were still unconscious, I wanted to help but found I couldn't move. It was then that I felt the silk of the ribbon rub against my skin. We had lost and this was just the beginning

End Flashback

As the shadow of the Malfoy house loomed over me, I felta sense of foreboding. I struggled against Crabbe and Goyle but it did no use and only made my arm feel worse. As we approached the door Crabbe grabbed a big brass knocker that had a snake woven around it and knocked on the door. At once a house elf opened the door and ushered us into the huge hall. Goyle leered at me before pushing me into the house, where I stumbled and fell, almost loosing my balance.

"Master Malfoy will be with you in a moment," the house elf squeaked. "Would you like to sit down in the parlor?"

"They will not be staying long Twitchy," Malfoy said to the elf as he walked down the large marble staircase. He ignored me as he addressed his cronies, "You have found her. Any problems?"

"No. We found her in one of the holding places and brought her strait here." Crabbe said.

"Good. Here is the money." Malfoy threw a bag of money at Goyle. "Now leave, I willcontact you if I need you for anything else." Crabbe and Goyle left.

As the door closed he finally turned to face me. "So the mudblood Granger finally put in her place." I raised my hand to slap him but found I couldn't move it. "None of that. That ribbon is more than a decoration you know." He reached out and touched it, I flinched away. "You can't hurt or disobey a pureblood. But I do think it needs something." He pretended to think a moment then waved his had at my throat. I felt something appear on the ribbon but I couldn't tell what it was.

"There, looks perfect. Well Granger do you know why you're here?" I didn't say anything; I refused to respond to him, to play his game. "Answer me." He said his voice dangerously low.

It was a command I couldn't ignore, the ribbon wouldn't let me. "No, I don't know why I'm here." I didn't look at him.

"Well you are here to work for me. To do my every bidding." He looked at me a moment the suddenly said, "Do you know what happened at the end of the war?"

"No." I said, I didn't let it show how desperately I wanted to know.

"You will come to my study tonight; a house elf will fetch you." Was all he said, chnging topics at the speed of light,before he started to walk away.

"Wait will you tell me what happened, the war I mean?" I asked, hating myself for depending on him to know.

"Perhaps." He said with a silky smile. He walked back up the stairs.

A house elf appeared as soon as he was out of sight. It was Twitchy, he told my to follow him, I did and soon found myself in a basement room. It had a small mattress on the floor in the corner, a sink with a dingy mirror, and a handful of candles scattered around the room.

Twitchy started to leave before I said "Wait my arm, I think it's broken."

"I'm sorry I can't do anything about it." Was all the house elf said before leaving.

To my dismay I started to cry. It was the first time I hated my heritage, because that was the only reason I was here. I wanted to scream in rage, to pound my fists at the unfairness of it all but instead I walked slowly over to the sink to wash my face.I caught a look at myself in the mirror. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my hair was tangled and covered in mud, as were much of my clothes. But the first thing that caught my eye was an ornate M with a snake twisted around it attached to the ribbon.

**Authors Note:**

Well this is my first story so if you review (please do) be nice! Let me know what you think. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling.

**Authors Note:**

OK, so here is chapter two. I was so excited by everybody's reviews thank-you **SO** much. Anyway I probably should have put this at the beginning of the first chapter but this is not a one-shot (obviously) but it will be pretty short, I don't think any longer than 3 or 4 chapters. The other thing is that I am in desperate need of a **beta reader**. I am a horrible speller. So if anyone would like to beta this story that would be totally awesome. Alrighty enough rambling, on with the story. I hope you guys like it.

**Tie the Ribbon Round**

I stood looking at the ribbon for a long time, and thinking about what it meant. I was sure that if I could get a wand I could get it off and then go into hiding. I hoped that some of the Order might still be alive. The thought made everything seem possible for a second. I saw myself finding Harry and Ron and the other members of the Order in some cave and plotting our revenge on Voldemort. Now all I had to do was to get the ribbon off. It was the only thing that kept me here. I slipped two fingers under the silk and pulled, nothing happened; I hadn't really expected anything too but I had to try.

Sighing, I again looked up to the mirror. I cleaned myself up as best I could, but the water coming from the sink was ice cold and I could only use one arm. I was sure that it was broken; every time I moved it sharp pains would shoot through my entire forearm. If only I had my wand then I could heal it in an instant. I eventually gave up and sat down on the mattress. I wondered how long I would have to stay here, and what I would do. I would have rather do work than do nothing, a trait that went back to my school days. I attempted to sleep but I wasn't tired, I wondered why Malfoy wanted me here. Malfoy, God I hated him so much. I think at that moment I would rather have been at one of the Mudblood camps than in the Malfoy basement. After what I guessed to be about and hour and a half of thoughts along these lines I fell into dreamless sleep at last, curled up on the cold mattress

"Miss? Miss, Mister Malfoy wants you to come to his study at once." I awoke to a house elf I had never seen before, saying words that I never thought I would hear, let alone be forced to obey.

"Alright." I said as I let the house elf lead me out of the basement. We walked up the large marble staircase that I had seen just a few hours ago. When we got to the top there was a long hallway with doors on both sides, and portraits. Most of the people I didn't know but they all glared at me as I walked by. I kept my head up and pretended that it didn't bother me. Finally the elf stopped in front of one of the doors and motioned for me to go in.

The first thing I noticed was the books, almost every wall was a bookshelf, my hands itched to open them but I stood where I was. Off to the right there was a few armchairs and a coffee table, like a miniature sitting room, on the left there was a cabinet but it was closed and a grandfather clock hanging on the wall. And right in the middle was a huge wooden desk with papers scattered all over it and Malfoy sitting behind it. He was looking down but I was sure he knew I was there. I walked forward until I was right in front of him, he still didn't look up. I stood there for a minute or so but he continued to ignore me, finally, getting impatient I gave a little cough.

"Sit down Granger." He said, still not looking up. I did as he said, but as I sat down my arm hit against the arm of the chair. As it was jarred sharp pains shot up my arm. I gave a little scream in pain, and clutched my arm. Tears welled up in my eyes and everything became blurred. But Malfoy finally looked up. "What's the matter with you?" No compassion just curiosity.

"My arm is broken." I said hysterically, the tears streaming down my cheeks.

I heard Malfoy mutter, "_Episkey_" and my arm suddenly felt a lot better. I wasn't surprised; I recognized a healing charm when I heard one.

"Thank-you." I said simply.

"Well Granger, you wanted to know about the war?" He asked, leaning forward on his desk.

"Yes, how did it end?" I asked eagerly, yet at the same time dreading the answer.

"You lost." He said bluntly. "The Dark Lord killed Potter within 15 minutes of their duel. It was really quite sad." He sneered. As much as I hadn't wanted to believe it I guessed that in reality Harry would be dead. "I don't know what happened to the Weasel but he's probably dead too. With Dumbledore gone I'm surprised the war lasted as long as it did. But we won in the end."

Tears spilled over again. "You're heartless." I spat at him. He merely chuckled.

"Well Granger that may be true but that is not why you are here."

"No but I'm sure your going to tell me why." I said, putting the war out of my mind for the moment, if I dwelled on it too long I would be sobbing, something I didn't want to do in front of Malfoy.

"I've decided that since you are such a know it all that you will be my assistant. You will look over papers and provide intelligent conversation." He said as if it were the most obvious reason in the world.

"Why?" I asked, this was not the reason I had expected.

"Because you were the only one in school who could match my intelligence. Blaise died in the war and it appears that _you_ have nothing better to do." He said arrogantly, as if he cared nothing for his friend's death. "You will do whatever needs doing around the house, like cleaning, ask the house elves, in the mornings but by afternoon you will come to my study and we will talk, or you can read." He gestured to the bookshelves.

"Wait are you saying that I will be able to read?" I asked, becoming excited as I looked at the shelves.

"Well I can't expect you to be able to debate me on the modern theories of Arithmancy if you haven't read about them can I?" He asked, sounding annoyed.

"So I can read and all I have to do is talk about it with you?" I asked. This was not what I expected. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, Granger." He sneered. "Though you will also be expected to look over papers, let me bounce ideas off of you. And you will work in the mornings." It was almost like he didn't want to seem too nice. As if I would ever think he was nice. "You can pick out three books to take back to your….room."

I flushed in embarrassment at what I had been degraded too. But the thought of reading, something I was sure I would never be able to do again, made me happier than I had been in days. I stood, ready to go to the shelves and search for the books.

"Sit Granger, there is still the matter of your….wardrobe." I sat abruptly; it was a command and could not be ignored by the ribbon. Looking down at my robe I saw that it was dirty and ripped in several places. "You will find some new clothes over there," he nodded over to chest sitting by the wall. "Go try something on." Another command, I walked over to the chest and looked through it until I found something I liked, then looked up to see him watching me. "There is a bathroom over there where you can change." He looked down at his papers again.

I had picked a simple pair of grey, suit type paints, and a white dress shirt. I tried to do something with my hair but it hadn't been combed in a while and was a bushy mess. I walked out and over to Malfoy's desk and stood there, a bit nervously. He looked up.

"The hair." Was all he said, before he said some sort of spell I had never heard. I could feel twist up into some sort of bun, though strands of it still fell down.

"It needs something." He looked at my neck for a long time before saying _Accio Necklace_. A black box zoomed into the room to land in Malfoy's hand. He opened it and inside was a simple diamond necklace. He gave it to me to put on, though I must have looked as astonished as I felt because he said, "You have to look the part. You have to look presentable to work for me, even if you are a mudblood." He saw that I wasn't going to take the necklace. He smirked. "Put the necklace on, Granger."

"Bastard." I muttered, while I grabbed the necklace and fastened it around my neck. Feeling the soft silk of the ribbon as I did.

"It doesn't work with that ribbon." He said to himself. I heard him mutter another spell. I could still feel the ribbon pressing against my throat but as he held up a mirror I saw that it was gone. He had made it invisible. Now if I was to go out on the streets no one would look twice at me. How cruel of him to be able to just make it disappear as if it weren't a big deal. Too make it easier for him to pretend that I wasn't a muggle-born. But then maybe, just for a few hours a day I could pretend that I wasn't as well. I walked over to the bookshelf and began to look for my three books.

**Authors Note:**

So here it is, I hoped you liked it and the spelling wasn't too horrible. I'm really sorry if Draco seemed a little OOC. Or if the whole thing makes no since at all. So like I said there will probably be only one or two more chapters. Please, please, please review. Thanks.

P.S. The spell Episkey was from Mugglenet, it's a healing spell.


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